Then Now Always

Chapter 5

NOW

Daisy

My heart races as the flood of memories and emotions come rushing back. Years had passed since I last saw him, but for some reason, it only feels like yesterday when there were tears running down my face and I had to get out of this town because of him. Zane, the guy who took all my firsts, is sitting right in front of me, his features etched in the passage of time but still as breathtaking as ever.

"Zane," I manage to say, my voice trembling as I take a step back from the window. He looks different, more...man and less the boy I knew all those years ago.

Now, he's rougher around the edges. His jaw sharper, a dark short stubble covering his lower half of the face. His raven-black hair is shorter than I remember it, I hate to admit that it suits him.

We lock eyes for a moment, the unspoken words between us almost suffocating. So much history. So much pain. So much unresolved. My heart pounds in my chest, but I refuse to show what seeing him is doing to me.

"Hey, Dais," is the first thing he says to me.

The first thing. It's so simple and yet it's not at all what I expected in all the scenarios I've thought about.

I swallow, my heart still racing, and I hesitate for a moment, torn between staying out in the rain and getting into his truck. His voice, that familiar gravelly tone that used to make me melt, now sends goosebumps down my spine. Despite the stormy weather, there's a storm of emotions brewing inside of me, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to face them.

Too long must pass without me saying or doing anything. I don't actually know because I'm too in my own head.

"Get in the truck."

"Zane," I say again because, what the fuck?

This is not how I expected to come face-to-face with the boy who I've thought about relentlessly for so long.

The boy who broke my heart who is now not so much a boy.

He's still staring at me, those eyes locked onto mine.

"You're not surprised to see me." Frank must have already told him.

He leans over the center console and opens the door for me. "You're getting the inside of my car wet."

I sigh. "It'll be wet anyway if I get in," I motion to my dress which is dripping from the bottom now.

He reaches in the backseat and pulls out a dark towel, draping it over the seat.

I struggle to climb inside the truck, and when I do finally manage to plop my ass into the seat, the air is...

Static.

It's warmer in the truck, the heat isn't on, but it must be coming off him. Zane always ran hot, even in the cooler months. I used to find any reason to be close to him, and the best excuse was "I'm cold" because I knew he'd wrap his arms around me and hold me tight like I was his entire world.

What a lie that was.

He doesn't start driving immediately, and when I lift my head to look at him, he's already staring like he's seeing a ghost. I swallow as his eyes dip down, briefly, just to acknowledge my wet dress is leaving nothing to imagination, and then his eyes fly back to the road.

He reaches in the back again and pulls out a jacket, handing it to me without glancing at me. I watch him shift the truck into gear, the shadows highlighting his biceps and the prominent blue vein trailing into his forearm.